DIXON: Mystery surrounds award discovered in forgotten mirror

Darrin Phegley / The Gleaner
An award certificated dated 1927 was discovered recently hidden the back of a mirror owned by Henderson resident Phyllis Casey. The award was presented to Boidin Gery for having the “most beautiful” sheaf of wheat.

The Gleaner

There's one thing about this business: You never know what's coming when you pick up the phone and you never know who or what is going to walk through the front door.

Sometimes it's an interesting little mystery that breaks up the day. Last week Phyllis Casey of Henderson provided just such a distraction.

Here I was pondering weighty questions. Kentucky state legislators do not already get sexual harassment training? How is serving alcoholic beverages on a city sidewalk outside a restaurant different from serving alcoholic beverages at a festival in a city park?

In walked Phyllis with an old mirror.

Frankly the mirror didn't seem too exceptional. It was a couple feet long, maybe foot and a half high. It sure seemed old. It was a kind of pale blue and gold combination with lots of curlicues. It had more curlicues on an ornament that once was attached to the top.

But Phyllis wasn't here to show me her mirror. It was what she found hidden on the back.

She said the mirror had come into the family via the Salvation Army store about 15 years ago. It was passed around some and made its way to an attic. And there it rested for years. She ran across it recently and noticed the brown paper lining the back was falling away. Behind that she found the beginning of the mystery.

It's a large piece of heavy paper about 17 inches by 13. It had once been larger; both sides had been trimmed. The paper had been folded at least three times and placed between the back of the mirror itself and the paper that covered the back. The color of rich butter, it was dated 1927.

It was some kind of award, but all the language is French. There was the word "diplome" so we thought is was a diploma. There were the words "Grand Echo," which sounded like maybe a school. There was what looked like a name, M Boidin Gery, and a place, Ruminghem. The rest was beyond us.

My French classes in high school and college didn't take. Some colleagues here who enjoy a mystery as well took on the task and by and by, through the wonders of the Internet, we came up with a rough translation.

Ruminghem is indeed a place far in the north of France. The Grand Echo is no school, but a newspaper also in the north of France. In fact a line under its name trumpets that it is has the largest circulation in the region. The "diplome" in this case apparently means more like "certificate" or "certification" than diploma.

So what did Boidin Gery of Ruminghem, France, do to be presented with this impressive document?

Apparently the Grand Echo newspaper had organized a contest for the "most beautiful" stalk of wheat. Monsieur Gery's "Hybrid Peace" wheat had won the day.

And right there in an illustration is a young girl among workmen, presenting wheat to a Greek or Roman figure with a scythe in his hand.

It seems sadly ironic to me that a wheat hybrid called "Peace" would be so honored in the north of France in 1927. Just 10 years before, the terrible trench warfare of World War I had raged through the region. Just 12 years later, France was again at war with Germany, falling to the Nazi invaders in 1940.

The "Peace" wheat turned out to be a forlorn hope.

But mysteries remain:

Is the mirror as old as the 1927 certificate? Did it come from France as well?

Who was Monsieur Boidin Gery and why was the certificate for his winning wheat hidden behind this old mirror? Why would anybody put such a document in such a place anyway?

And how did it come from the north of France in 1927 to a Salvation Army store in Henderson, Ky., circa 1998?

Phyllis wants to know. And if she's stumbled upon a family heirloom, she'd like to return it. If anybody can shed further light on this, please let me know.

Until then, we'll be wondering about the "Peace" wheat that grew between the wars.